Gustavo Kuerten's Heart
Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten has played his final French Open this year. Repeated hip injuries have caused the popular player aka “Guga” to announce his impending retirement. Who can forget Guga drawing the outline of a huge heart in the red clay at Roland Garros after capturing the French open title? The gesture was so representative of what tennis fans around the world would feel for Guga himself in the years to come. Tennis is a job… and it is the chosen profession of the talented tennis pros who
travel the world in search of titles and ranking points. Nonetheless, Guga was one of those players who embodied the joy of game, i.e. “joie de vivre”, when he played. Would that it could always be that way... At the same time, Kuerten won 20 titles during his career including three at Roland Garros. Kuerten was also the first South American to be ranked Number One at the end of the year. Hopefully, Guga will remain closely connected to tennis when he packs away his match rackets… tennis needs more people like Guga.
|
